


Mistletoe

by desperationandgin



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-07
Updated: 2014-12-07
Packaged: 2018-02-28 10:53:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2729756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/desperationandgin/pseuds/desperationandgin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Regina remembers past encounters with holiday berries just before being surprised by the tradition.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mistletoe

**Author's Note:**

> Just a fluff prompt from an anon on tumblr asking for something relating to mistletoe.

Daniel had kissed her under mistletoe once. He’d put it in the stables above the door, on the inside so that it wouldn’t be seen and pressed flush against a wooden beam. She’d been seventeen, just finishing a ride in the cold air that was heavy with impending snow. The winter solstice was fast approaching and with it a ball hosted by her mother to dread. But for a few precious moments, Regina was free. When she’d gone to take care of her horse, to brush him down and feed him apples, Daniel stopped her inside the door and grabbed her around the waist, making her gasp then giggle.

"What are you doing, my love?"

Cold hands cradled her flushed face. “You’re standing under the winter berries.”

Eyes flicking up, then back at him, her smile blossomed and he’d had to kiss it, making good on tradition. “I plan to kiss you every year like this,” he’d vowed, and she’d laughed at the promise, kissing him sweetly once more. The next year they would be in their own home she hoped, in a cottage cozy and warm with spiced apples scenting the rooms. Every solstice would be joyous and full of love. One more year, and that life would be hers.

And then winter settled in her heart permanently, cold and heavy.

Snow had tried during the first solstice her step-mother spent in the castle, hanging mistletoe under every doorway for her father to take the chance to kiss his new wife. Regina took to the shadows, never quite stepping back into the light even when the celebrations were over.

In Storybrooke, it wasn’t until Henry that she spared a passing thought for the berries when he was four and brought a coloring book picture of the leaves and fruit home from Pre-K.

"Mommy, you  hang this up and then I kiss you, okay?"

She’d laughed softly, the tug at her heart like a warm balm, and taped the picture above his bedroom door. Then she’d knelt and he’d launched himself into her arms, kissing both of her cheeks and then her lips sweetly. Her little prince who chased away the dark and brought her out of the winter she’d buried herself in, innocent and sweet kept the tradition through his eighth year. And then, when he was nine, just before his tenth birthday, he’d been given a book. 

Three years and Regina hadn’t even bothered to decorate her home for the holidays. Christmas truly meant nothing to her as most of this land’s traditions failed to make an impact. When Henry was little she had, she’d ordered the best pine tree to be cut and brought to her home, and she and Henry decorated together. But her house was going on year four of being empty; no tree, no presents, no mistletoe.

Which changes as she wraps her hands around a warm mug of cider and the front door bursts open. Giggling from Roland follows, then heavy footsteps and Henry’s deepening (but still touched by boyhood) voice. “Mom! You have to see this!”

The smell of pine assaults her senses first, and her eyes widen as she makes her way to the front.

"And where, milady, should I place the tree?"

Robin is grinning, his dimples keeping protestations from her lips as she gestures almost dumbly to the study. 

"I know exactly where it goes," Henry offers. "I’ll show you."

They disappear and there’s the sound of furniture being rearranged as she stands mutely in her foyer. There’s a tree in her house, a tree for Christmas, and she’s biting her lip hard as Henry declares he’s taking Roland to the attic to get the lights and ornaments. It’s then that Regina manages to make her legs work again and she wanders in to view the tree, just tall enough that the star on top won’t hit the ceiling.

"Henry thought it might be a nice surprise for you. I hope you don’t mind," Robin begins, a touch of apology in his voice and she immediately shakes her head.

There are tears clouding her vision as she stands in the doorway and looks down, hair falling in front of her face. “No,” she murmurs, voice breaking a bit. When she looks back up her eyes are shining. “No, it’s perfect.” His hands move to her hips, and she sways with him lightly.

"Well, this is quite the opportunity for me, then."

Regina looks up in confusion, just in time to see his gaze lift toward the doorway and she lets out a laugh. “Mistletoe.”

"Do I get a kiss then?" he asks, pulling her even closer.

She can’t resist, she can’t stop smiling, and the shadows he’s been steadily extinguishing have receded completely in the warmth of his arms and the press of his hands, solid against her back, sliding down and over her curves. Her lips find his, arms winding around his neck, and they kiss long enough for her to know that the dark is gone, that her heart is his and safe from the cold.

"No  _kissing!_ ” comes Roland’s very put out exclamation, and she laughs against Robin’s mouth.

"Later," he promises, letting her go to intercept ornaments from the boys.

She watches, looks up at the mistletoe, and smiles.

Some traditions are worth bringing back.


End file.
